What really makes the game so playable, however, is its embracing of the series’ core values. There’s far less emphasis on combat here, leaving the locations feeling oddly sterile and lifeless at times. Instead there’s an increased focus on puzzle-solving, with each fiendish platforming section bookended by equally fiendish puzzles that range from the physical block-pushing variety to old-fashioned tile puzzles solved with the pointer.

This isn’t a flawless game. Despite the sense of scale provoked by the frankly staggeringly good visuals, the game itself is disappointingly short. This is perhaps due mostly to the developers’ attempt to recreate some of the scenes contained in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions – which, to be fair, they do pretty successfully. But in so doing they’ve been forced to trim down some of the puzzles. That said, this hardly matters as the Wii-exclusive sections more than make up for the loss.

A further niggle raises its pustule-ridden face when Lara uses her grapple line. What should be an exhilarating feature is hampered by the unhelpful dynamic camera that chooses the worst possible moment to pan around our heroine, making it nigh-on impossible to build any momentum in her swing. This is a massively disappointing oversight, especially since the camera has otherwise been improved to no end by the developers, mapping it to the D-pad and doing away with the need to hold the C button.

In all, Tomb Raider: Underworld is a genuinely exciting addition to the Wii’s library that feels genuinely next-gen. At long last here’s a game that despite being a multi-format release celebrates the Wii’s unique controls without compromising on thrills. And it’s not a port, and it’s not made by Nintendo. Other developers take note. She might have been around for over ten years but Lara clearly has a few tricks left to teach us.

Dec 1, 2008